


Extracurricular

by under_hongseoks_toe



Category: ATEEZ (Band), EXO (Band)
Genre: Assassins & Hitmen, Blackmail, Enemies to Lovers, Extracurricular AU, Fake/Pretend Relationship, M/M, Morally Ambiguous Character, Organized Crime, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Prostitution, References to Drugs, Slow Burn, Slow To Update
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-14
Updated: 2020-12-14
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:40:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28067160
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/under_hongseoks_toe/pseuds/under_hongseoks_toe
Summary: Kim Hongjoong and his half-brother Choi Jongho live a normal, quiet life, raised by their Uncle Baekhyun, blissfully ignorant to the darkness hiding in their family tree. When their Uncle suddenly disappears, a huge secret unravels giving Hongjoong two options: get thrust into a life he never asked for or continue to live in ignorance. Unfortunately for Hongjoong, the second option was more a courteous addition than an actual choice.*Named after the Netflix series this was inspired by, which if you haven't watched, GO WATCH ITS SO GOOD*
Relationships: Byun Baekhyun/Park Chanyeol, Choi San/Jung Wooyoung, Kim Hongjoong/Park Seonghwa
Comments: 3
Kudos: 9





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> I've had this just sitting in my drafts for forever, and I figured, screw it, I should just post this. So here we are. Updates will be incredibly slow because it takes a lot of motivation to write these chapters (motivation that I don't always have) but I'll try my best. I've got two other stories on the go PLUS university AND work, so no promises lol. 
> 
> Also, this fic is heavily inspired by the Netflix series Extracurricular, which I highly recommend. It was so good, so if you haven't seen it, you should go watch!

Kim Hongjoong lived a peaceful and orderly life. 

Routine was everything to the third year university student, thus, everyday he would follow the same schedule:

  1. Wake up at precisely 6:00 am.
  2. Drag his little brother out of bed. 
  3. Eat the breakfast prepared by his Uncle.
  4. Attend classes.
  5. Study.
  6. Eat.
  7. Study some more.
  8. Sleep (barely).
  9. Repeat.



This had been Hongjoong’s way of life everyday since starting university two years ago, so when the young man’s alarm went off that morning at 6:00 am he expected nothing to change. 

Kim Hongjoong had never been more wrong in his life. 

*

_ Beep beep beep.  _

Hongjoong’s eyes shot open in the dark, all prior fatigue draining at the incessant beeping of the alarm clock. Last night had been yet another rough night, and the young man wondered if he had even slept at all. If the heavy pull behind his eyes was any indication, the answer was probably no. Throwing the blankets off so he could no longer chase the comfortable warmth, and risk falling to the darkness, Hongjoong dragged himself out of bed. Frankly, the university student remembered closing his eyes a few hours ago, and he also remembered his mind going blank. Theoretically, he should’ve felt rested, but sleep had never come that night, his mind too plagued with nightmares. 

Correction: Memories.

Although his father died nearly two decades ago, Hongjoong would still sometimes see him hanging lifeless from the ceiling, when he closed his eyes. For years, therapists had been telling the young man he couldn’t possibly remember anything from when he was two years old. Whether or not they were right and the disturbing image was onset by what his uncle had told him, didn’t particularly matter. That didn’t change anything.

Shaking the thoughts away and running a hand through his overgrown blond hair, Hongjoong trekked across the hallway to his brother’s room. Without even knocking, he quietly pushed the door open, sighing in relief at Jongho’s peaceful form under the covers. Light from the hallway crept through the open door illuminating his little brother’s face, causing the younger to squint and scowl in his sleep. 

“What ever happened to waking me up gently?” Jongho eventually grumbled, voice still thick with sleep. “Blinding me is not the way to go, hyung,” he continued, eyes still closed.

Hongjoong chuckled lightly, “Sorry, I meant to close the door behind me.” 

Upon hearing the weak laugh, Jongho forced his eyes open to inspect his older brother. As expected, the ever present far off look in Hongjoong’s eyes continued to plague him. Hesitantly, the younger spoke, “Are you having those nightmares again?” 

Hongjoong averted his gaze, picking at a loose thread on his sleeping shirt, “It’s fine. As long as you’re fine, I’m fine, Jongho.”

“Say you’re fine one more time and maybe you’ll convince yourself,”

“Seriously,” Hongjoong interjected. “I’m okay.” 

Smiling a tiny smile which Jongho could clearly see straight through, the older of the two brothers crossed the room. “If you don’t get out of bed in the next 20 seconds, I’m eating your breakfast,” Hongjoong teased, flicking his little brother on the forehead. The eldest sibling turned on his heels and sprinted to the kitchen, listening to Jongho grumble and struggle to find his slippers, far behind him. With a laugh more genuine than the last bubbling in his throat, Hongjoong tumbled down the hallway into the kitchen. 

He stopped dead in his tracks, laughter dying like an extinguished flame. The university student must have stood there in silence for at least a minute, because the next thing he knew, Jongho had snuck up beside him. 

“Uh, hyung,” the young highschooler began, confused but not concerned. “Where’s uncle Baekhyun?”

Hongjoong did not respond, too busy scanning the kitchen. There was no breakfast on the table, but more pressingly Uncle Baekhyun was not seated at his usual spot. Every morning, the 40 year old man would sit at the island typing away on his phone, smiling privately, while he waited for his nephews to join him for breakfast. 

Jongho, finally remembering his brother’s bizarre obsession with routine, offered up a gentle explanation, “Maybe he overslept-” 

Jongho swallowed his words when he followed Hongjoong’s gaze to the phone lying face up on the floor just in front of the refrigerator. 

“Go check uncle’s room,” Hongjoong ordered, rushing over to the phone on the floor. Jongho didn’t even try to argue, instead jogging back in the opposite direction towards their uncle’s room. 

The older of the two brothers gazed down at the abandoned device silently, chest heaving and face paling. A dark thought crossed his mind that he shouldn’t touch the phone in case it needed to be used as evidence. Before he could chase the thought away on his own, two things happened almost simultaneously. 

First, Jongho called from across the apartment, voice thick with concern, “He’s not in his room-”

Second, the phone rang. Hongjoong starred as the contact name “Park” flashed across the screen. Unlike Uncle Baekhyun’s contacts for his beloved nephews, there was no picture or cute emojis. Jongho lunged to pick up the phone. The abrupt movement startled Hongjoong out of his stupor and he grabbed his younger brother’s wrist. “Let me answer,” he stated rather than suggested. Jongho retracted his wrist like he’d been burned. 

“Baek?” a deep voice laced in concern asked, from the other side of the phone. Before Hongjoong could even answer the voice continued, “You didn’t answer my texts this morning,”

Hongjoong interrupted, “This isn’t Baekhyun, it’s his nephew.”

The line went quiet. What felt like hours passed before the stranger spoke again, “Where is he?”

“I don’t know.”

Jongho closed the distance between himself and his brother, desperate to listen in. When he was still unable to hear anything, the younger whined, “Hyung, let me talk.” 

The response from the stranger was immediate and firm, “Don’t hand the phone to Jongho.”

Hongjoong frowned.  _ How did this stranger know who they were? _

Before he could question the man’s relationship to his uncle, the deep voice spoke up again, “Take him to school and meet me back at your apartment.” 

The man hung up. 

Jongho crowded his older brother, questions and pleas stumbling from his lips, only to fall on deaf ears. 

“Pack up. I’ll take you to school instead,” Hongjoong deadpanned. 

Jongho turned away and walked back to his room without question. He could never recall a time when his older brother sounded so serious. Even when talking about his nightmares, there would be a tiny hint of fear in his speech. Now, all Jongho heard was emptiness. 

*

The man leaning against Hongjoong’s apartment complex was handsome. Despite being nearly all legs, he carried a threatening aura unmatched by anyone the university student had ever met. From the baritone voice on the phone, Hongjoong had expected somebody more physically threatening. Instead, the man before him was intimidating through his elegance. Between his perfectly styled hair, his natural good looks, and his pristine clothes, the stranger screamed wealth and power. 

“Are you Mr.Park?” Hongjoong inquired, shifting his backpack on his shoulders. 

“Let’s talk inside,” the man replied, throwing his cigarette on the ground and crushing it under the heel of his expensive looking shoes. He detached himself from the wall, moving towards Hongjoong and gazing just past his head with narrowed eyes. “It’s not safe out here.”

The young man risked a glance behind himself only to be met with an empty street. Deciding not to argue with someone who could possibly help him, Hongjoong simply shook his head and typed in the passcode to his building. 

Without a word, both men filed into the cramped elevator. The stranger towered over Hongjoong in the small space, making him feel like a child. Desperate for some form of conversation Hongjoong glanced towards the other man.

“What did you mean back there?” the young man asked. The stranger made no move to answer, continuing to stare ahead with blank eyes and a downturned mouth. Hongjoong sighed, averting his gaze back to the ugly pattern on the elevator wall. After what felt like hours of awkward silence, the elevator finally dinged, alerting the pair they had reached their destination. 

The moment Hongjoong inserted his key into the apartment door, he began to have second thoughts.  _ He wasn’t going to get murdered, right?  _ Sure, the stranger didn’t seem like the type to kill somebody, but one could never be too careful in this day and age. 

Sensing his hesitation, the stranger spoke quietly, “ It’s okay, I just want to find out what happened to him.” 

Between the subtle desperation in his voice and the not so subtle concern from the phone call earlier, Hongjoong cracked and unlocked the door. Afterall, if he was acquainted with Uncle Baekhyun, there was no way he could be a bad guy.  _ Right? _

Hongjoong stepped into the apartment and ushered the stranger in after him. The man took off his fancy shoes and reached into the closet for the guest slippers, completely unprompted.  _ Strange _ , Hongjoong thought. 

“So, are you his friend or something?” Hongjoong asked casually, tossing his backpack on the floor and making his way over to the kitchen to put on a pot of coffee. 

“I don’t think ‘friend’ is the right word,” the man followed behind him, reaching into the cupboard where they kept the cups, once again completely unprompted. The mug he pulled down from the top shelf was white, with a small graphic of Yoda printed on the side.  _ Strange. _

*

_ “Did you have company while we were away?” Hongjoong teased, noticing the Yoda mug on the table next to Baekhyun’s usual grey mug. Baekhyun blushed and smiled at the ground, swiftly grabbing the cup and clearing it away to the sink.  _

_ “And if I did?” he asked, a certain mischief to his voice. _

_ “Then we don’t want to know about it,” Jongho interjected, walking over to the sink and picking up the mug. “Have we always had this?”  _

_ “Yes, we have,” Baekhyun replied, rolling his eyes. “I just keep it on the top shelf so you troublemakers can’t get a hold of it.” _

_ “Hey! You know Hongjoong hyung is insecure about his height,” Jongho exclaimed. Before Hongjoong could argue, the younger changed the topic, “Also, you sound like an old man when you call us troublemakers.” _

_ Baekhyun huffed and crossed his arms. “I’m not that old.” _

_ “Yes, you are,” Hongjoong laughed. “And I’m sure whoever this ‘company’ was, would agree.”  _

_ “Ah,” Jongho cried, covering his ears and wrinkling his face in disgust. “I don’t wanna hear about it.”  _

_ “Then go away,” Hongjoong replied, gently kicking his little brother on the butt to shove him out of the kitchen. Once Jongho was out of sight, Hongjoong looked at his uncle, a single eyebrow raised in question. _

_ “There’s nothing to tell.” Baekhyun replied, turning away from Hongjoong before the younger man could get a read on his uncle’s expression.  _

_ “But they have a special mug,” Hongjoong teased. “So obviously this person is important.”  _

_ “Sure they are,” Baekhyun sighed. “But that doesn’t mean I’m telling you a damn thing.”  _

*

“So if you’re not his friend, what are you?” Hongjoong questioned, already having an answer in mind. “His... lover?”

The man coughed, eyes wide with a startled expression more human than any other look Hongjoong had seen on the man’s face so far. “I suppose that’s closer,” he responded, large ears slowly turning red at the tips.

Hongjoong scoffed as he put the pot on the stove. Seeing the stoic man in front of him become flustered over his uncle was strangely comforting. As gross as Jongho would argue this whole situation was, learning that this stranger was romantically involved with his uncle brought Hongjoong peace of mind. If Baekhyun could trust this man with his heart, Hongjoong found no reason not to trust him too. 

The two men with seemingly nothing in common except for Byun Baekhyun, sat down together at the kitchen table waiting for their cups of coffee, neither making a move to speak. The stranger sat directly across from Hongjoong, so the young man took the opportunity to study his face. From up close, it was evident that the years had been kind to “Mr.Park”. He showed significantly less signs of aging than his uncle, leaving Hongjoong to wonder if they were even the same age. 

“So,” Hongjoong started, trying to break the awkward silence. “Mr.Park-”

The stranger corrected him, “Chanyeol.” 

“Um, okay, sure. Chanyeol,” Hongjoong restarted. “Shouldn’t we call the police?” 

Based on the way Chanyeol’s eyes sharpened at his remark, the young man knew he had said the wrong thing. 

The longer he spoke with Chanyeol, Hongjoong had noticed two things. 

First, the older man was definitely hiding something.  _ Normal people _ didn’t avoid simple questions like Chanyeol had when Hongjoong tried to confirm his identity earlier.  _ Normal people _ weren’t paranoid that there were eyes and ears everywhere; they had no reason to be.  _ Normal people _ also would’ve called the cops. Park Chanyeol was not normal.

Second, however shady this stranger was, Hongjoong could clearly tell that his intentions regarding Baekhyun were pure. Call him a hopeless romantic, but Hongjoong  _ knew  _ that Park Chanyeol cared about his uncle. Which is exactly why Hongjoong didn’t kick the man out of his apartment right then and there. 

“Or not…” Hongjoong muttered, voice shaking slightly, fearfully deciding to trust the man in front of him. 

(This was a decision that Hongjoong would come to regret many times.)

*

The coffee pot screeched, indicating that the time for stalling was up. Hongjoong poured the hot beverage into the cups, handing the Yoda mug to Chanyeol. To the younger man’s surprise, Chanyeol asked for some sugar. Hongjoong had assumed the man would drink his coffee black. Apparently, not only was Park Chanyeol not normal, he was also full of surprises. 

“Why exactly  _ aren’t  _ we calling the police?” Hongjoong cut straight to the point, tired of dancing around the topic. 

Chanyeol sighed, “We just can’t.” 

Hongjoong tugged at his long hair, feeling frustration like never before. “Give it to me straight, Mr.Park,” the younger cried, not caring that Chanyeol would probably correct him because of the formality. He never did.

Instead the older man said the last thing Hongjoong ever would’ve expected.

“Baekhyun and I run a business together.”

“What,” Hongjoong spluttered, confused by the relevancy of Chanyeol’s confession. “I thought you guys were together.” 

“I told you, it’s not that simple,” Chanyeol rolled his eyes. “Long before any of that, we were business partners.”

Business partners, who couldn’t get involved with the police? The pieces slowly started to fall into place within Hongjoong’s mind. 

“Oh my god,” he exclaimed, eyes watering up. “My uncle is a drug dealer.”

“No,” Chanyeol had the audacity to laugh.“What we actually do is a hell of a lot classier than that. ”

“Oh lovely, you’re a criminal with class,” Hongjoong scoffed. 

“Baekhyun never wanted you to get involved,” the tall stranger said in response to Hongjoong’s exasperation. If that was supposed to be Mr.Park’s attempt at comforting the younger man, then he failed miserably. Not only did those words fail to bring Hongjoong peace, they actually threw him into a bit of a rage. 

“He was lying to us this whole time,” Hongjoong started, voice raising uncomfortably high. Chanyeol reached out his hand and placed it on the young man’s shoulder, in yet another pathetic excuse at comfort. Hongjoong shook it off like it burned and continued, “Everyday, Jongho and I would come back from school and Uncle Baekhyun would pretend he spent the day at the office. Now you’re telling me that instead of working at ‘the office’, he lounged around our apartment with his fuck buddy, plotting ways to break the law!” 

The instant those words tumbled from his lips, Hongjoong wished he could take them back. In the last twenty one years of his life, nobody had shown him the same kindness that his Uncle Baekhyun had demonstrated. If Hongjoong were being honest, he saw the bubbly 40 year old as the closest thing he had left to a parent. 

“I’m going to look for him,” Chanyeol replied, eyes holding a certain coldness that sent a shiver up Hongjoong’s spine. “And you’re going to help me.”

“I’m not helping anyone until you tell me exactly what the two of you have been up to.” 

“Fine,” Chanyeol grumbled. “But you need to promise not to be angry at Baekhyun. He only kept you and Jongho in the dark so you would be safe.”

Hongjoong rolled his eyes. All this dragging out was making the young man assume the absolute worst, and he couldn’t take it anymore. The older man observed the university student’s impatience and in turn, finally spoke the one truth Hongjoong was most nervous to hear. 

“Baekhyun and I have been running a gangster for hire business,” Chanyeol explained calmly. Observing the tenseness in Hongjoong’s shoulders, the older man continued, “We don’t kill people if that’s what you were afraid of.” 

Hongjoong  _ laughed _ . He straight up lost it. Hell, the young man was  _ shaking _ from giggling so extensively. 

The older man’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Not the reaction he was expecting, but still better than crying or screaming, Chanyeol thought to himself. After taking a couple seconds to calm himself down, Hongjoong noticed the blatant confusion written all over Mr.Park’s face. 

“I’m sorry for laughing but,” Hongjoong held in another round of giggles. “You’re crazy if you think I’m getting myself involved here.” Chanyeol opened his mouth to butt in, however Hongjoong continued, “I love Uncle Baekhyun, and I want to find him just as much as you do, but this is crazy.” 

At this confession, Chanyeol finally understood; the younger man wasn’t laughing because it was funny, he was laughing because he was scared. “Look,” Chanyeol sighed. “I know you’ve obviously put two and two together and figured out that your uncle was probably kidnapped by somebody  _ very  _ dangerous, given our line of work,” he told Hongjoong. “But I’m not asking you to risk your safety here.” He paused, “And honestly, Baek would kick my ass if I let anything happen to you two.”

“Then what do you want me to do?” Hongjoong scoffed. 

“I want you to keep our operation running while I go out searching for answers.” 

Hongjoong lifted a hand, ready to explain all the reasons why that would be a terrible idea. Mr.Park didn’t even give him the chance.

“Don’t worry, everything is done through this smartphone right here,” the older man held up a phone and waved it in front of Hongjoong’s face. “When a request from a client comes in, all you need to do is match them to one of our employees, forward the request, accept the client’s payment, then add it to the log so I can pay our staff later.” 

“Sounds simple enough,” Hongjoong replied. “Too bad the answer is still no.”

Chanyeol stood up from the sofa. At his full height, Mr.Park was incredibly threatening, but Hongjoong stood his ground. 

“I understand that you don’t want your precious business to flop while you’re MIA, but honestly,” Hongjoong looked Mr.Park in the eyes, his next words coming out uncharacteristically vicious. “Wouldn’t it be better if it did?” 

Chanyeol sighed, “We help people, Hongjoong-”

“How on earth is sending thugs out into the world, ‘helping people’?” Hongjoong nearly shouted. 

“We don’t send them to beat up people for no reason,” Chanyeol argued. “Those are the kinds of requests we decline. We send them out to protect people. To help them.”

“Why don’t I believe you?” Hongjoong inquired, still angry but speaking much softer now. 

“Let me show you,” Chanyeol said, typing the passcode into the phone and opening up an app the younger man had never seen before. After typing in a second password (different from the phone code) the app unlocked and displayed an assortment of what Hongjoong guessed were “employee” profiles. Chanyeol clicked a random one. 

The profile displayed a few things. Most prominently there was a photo of a well kempt man who appeared to be around the same age as Uncle Baekhyun. Despite his dark hair and his sharp eyes, the man in the photo looked far from threatening. The name read ‘Kim Minseok’. 

“This is one of our guys,” Chanyeol began as Hongjoong scanned an array of other stats from things like height, age, and blood type, to a list of special skills. “He specializes in retrieving and returning stolen items.”

Before Hongjoong could speak again, the man clicked another random profile. This time the attached photo was of one of the most stunning women Hongjoong had ever seen. “This is Bae Joohyun, but we call her Irene,” Chanyeol said. “And she roughs up scumbags who touch women.” 

Chanyeol pulled up a third profile, the fiery haired man in the photo looking closer to Hongjoong’s age. This man appeared slightly less elegant than the other two, yet he still didn’t look like a gangster. “This is another one of our guys, Song Mingi,” Chanyeol explained. “He acts as a bodyguard-” 

Hongjoong finally interrupted, “Okay I get it. I’ve seen enough.”

“So you’ll help us?” Chanyeol inquired, hopefulness hiding just beyond his cold and indifferent exterior. “I’ll pay you.”

Hongjoong weighed his options. If he said no, what was the worst that could happen? 

Chanyeol sighed, “I didn’t want to mention this, because I hate thinking that it’s even a possibility, but what if we can’t find Baekhyun right away? How are you going to pay rent without his income from the business? How will you support Jongho’s tuition?” 

Jongho was arguably the most important person in Hongjoong’s life. As a result, Hongjoong’s biggest fear was letting him down. Despite only being half siblings, the university student cared about his brother like a parent would care for their child. Actually, given the hell the two had been through, they could only rely on each other.

And their Uncle Baekhyun. 

Who was currently missing.

Hongjoong glared at the older man, gaze sharp, but words sharper, “Are you guilt-tripping me?” 

“Desperate times call for desperate measures,” Chanyeol shrugged. “But is it working?”

“Fuck,” Hongjoong grumbled, kicking at the ground. “It is.”

Chanyeol paused for a moment then spoke, “No isn’t really an option here, Hongjoong. If we shut down, we piss a lot of people off and we put a lot of lives at risk.”

Hongjoong sighed. 

Maybe it was because he was tired of talking about it. 

Maybe it was because he was worried about the people it would hurt. 

Maybe it was because he trusted Chanyeol.

Who was Hongjoong kidding? There was no maybe, it was because of Jongho. If there were one person in the whole world for whom Hongjoong was willing to risk it all, it was his little brother.

“Fine, I’ll do it.”


	2. Chapter Two

_ You can’t tell Jongho. _

Those were Mr.Park’s final words before he strode off on his quest to search for Uncle Baekhyun. Coincidentally, they were also the words that Hongjoong could not get out of his head. 

Even now, hours later, Hongjoong couldn’t shake the feeling of disgust every time he thought about lying to his little brother. Jongho looked up to Hongjoong, he trusted him, and naturally the older sibling never wanted to do anything to jeopardize that. 

“Why do you look like you’re about to vomit?” A voice suddenly chimed from beside Hongjoong making him jump up in the driver's seat. Jongho must’ve climbed in the car without Hongjoong noticing, which was a testament to just how spaced out the older had been. “Uncle Baekhyun probably won’t mind that you borrowed his car, but I can promise you he  _ will  _ mind if you puke on the leather.”

After the words tumbled from his mouth, Jongho deflated. “Uh, so are there any updates?” 

“I talked with the man on the phone,” Hongjoong offered vaguely. “And he said he’ll deal with it.” 

Short and simple. 

The perfect explanation for someone who absolutely could not lie to save their lives. 

As long as Jongho didn’t try to dig deeper- 

“ _ He’ll deal with it _ ?” The highschooler mimicked his older brother’s words. “No, Hongjoong that’s not good enough. We need to go to the police!”

Well, fuck. 

“Look,” Hongjoong began, putting the car into reverse and backing out of his spot in the highschool parking lot. “Mr.Park has known Baekhyun for longer than we’ve been alive.”

“Your point?” Jongho inquired, rolling his eyes in response to Hongjoong’s obvious attempt at stalling. 

“My point is,” He began, pulling out of the parking lot onto the road. “Mr.Park could find Baekhyun easier than we ever could. Those guys are like two peas in a pod.” Hongjoong forced a laugh. Internally, the young man sent an apology to his uncle for comparing him to such an icy, standoffish man. 

“What about the police?” Jongho questioned, eyes still heavy with suspicion and doubt. From what Hongjoong could see out of his peripherals, his little brother was still not buying it. Unfortunately for the university student, this meant that he’d actually have to lie. Chanyeol had given him a fake story, and although he had rehearsed it hundreds of times while waiting for Jongho in the parking lot, Hongjoong still struggled to speak when the occasion presented itself. 

After slightly too long of a pause to be considered normal, Hongjoong spoke, “Mr.Park told me that Baekhyun disappeared like this once before.” 

Oops. That was not the cover story he had prepared. 

“Wait really?” Jongho raised a brow in question. 

“It was before we were born,” Hongjoong began, silently praying that he could tumble through this fake story convincingly. “When he was around your age he ran away from home without a word.” 

“Does this have to do with mom?” Jongho sputtered unexpectedly. 

Bewildered but seeing this as a good opportunity to bring the fake story back on track, Hongjoong rolled with it. “Yeah, I think so. Which is why I didn’t ask many questions.” 

“Still, it’s weird that he’d leave without saying something to us,” the younger sibling pondered aloud. 

“Well, to be fair, he knows how much we hate that woman,” Hongjoong began. “It’s fair to assume he didn’t say anything because we’d freak out.”

“Yeah and disappearing in the middle of the night wouldn’t freak us out even worse,” Jongho scoffed. 

Hongjoong didn’t dare to utter a response, so an uncomfortable silence befell the small space of the car, lasting until they finally pulled up at their apartment complex. Instead of parking the car in the lot, Hongjoong had pulled up at the doors to let Jongho out. 

“I have to go back to the school to work on a project,” the older sibling offered in response to Jongho’s suspicious gaze.

“Yeah, okay,” Jongho replied, grabbing his backpack from the backseat. “Don’t stay out too late.” 

The highschool student walked into the building without another glance, leaving Hongjoong alone once again. As if living his life stuck in the world’s shittiest time loop, guilt began to eat at his mind the minute Jongho was out of sight, and it continued to plague him until he found himself settled in his favourite parking spot at the university campus. 

Dazed and absentminded, Hongjoong accidentally slammed his car door, the forceful impact causing the tree above him to lose a couple of leaves. Typically Hongjoong was the type of man to find beauty in nature but all he could think as the greenery fluttered towards the moonlit asphalt was  _ I’m sorry Jongho _ . 

*

Hongjoong must’ve sat in the desolate library for hours, just scrolling through the smartphone Chanyeol had given him. After checking almost every employee profile on the app, Hongjoong was starting to feel a little bit better about the whole situation. Nobody he came across looked shady, and there were even a few familiar faces.

_ Tiffany Young.  _ Hongjoong and Jongho’s old babysitter. 

_ Lee Keonhee. _ One of Hongjoong’s old middle school classmates.

_ Kwon Eunbin. _ Jongho’s primary school crush.

These were all good people as far as Hongjoong knew, and so the idea of getting involved slowly started warming up to him. Just as Hongjoong was about to check the recent logs to see what kind of missions had been completed over the past couple of days, somebody cleared their throat behind him. 

Hongjoong dropped the phone as if it was on fire, counting his blessings when it landed face down on the carpeted library floor. The young man however, quickly retracted those blessings when he noticed the pair of shiny dress shoes less than a foot away from the fallen device. Hongjoong practically dove forward scrambling for the phone, much to the strangers apparent amusement. 

“Are you laughing at me?” Hongjoong inquired as he fumbled to put the phone back in his pocket without even looking up. The stranger looked down at Hongjoong who was still kneeling on the ground by his feet, zipping up the pocket on his jacket after safely securing the device there.

“Were you watching porn in the library?” the stranger smirked. Hongjoong snapped his head up at the stranger's lewd remark, face already tinted a light shade of pink. 

“N-no,” he managed to stutter out, becoming even more embarrassed when he noticed their rather compromising position. Deciding it best not to stay eye level with this man’s crotch, Hongjoong abruptly stood up and dusted off his ripped jeans. Once he had put a satisfying amount of distance between them, the dusty blond took in the strangers appearance. Before him stood one of the most handsome strangers Hongjoong had ever met. From his bleach blond hair and intense gaze to his immaculately pressed dress clothes and mile long legs, Hongjoong could tell that this stranger was certainly a ladies man. Too bad Hongjoong wasn’t a lady. 

“Move,” the shorter man tried to step around the handsome stranger but was stopped by his sudden remark.

“So if you weren’t watching porn, you must’ve been doing something worse,” his tone was somehow casual yet accusatory, although the latter might just be Hongjoong’s conscience speaking. 

Without turning around the shorter man replied, keeping it simple, “It’s late and I thought the library was empty. You scared me.“ 

Thankfully his voice didn’t betray his nerves.

“Hm,” the taller hummed. Unfortunately for Hongjoong he didn’t sound entirely convinced. 

“Seonghwa oppa!” the student librarian - who happened to be a girl from Hongjoong’s photography class - called out suddenly, emerging from behind one of the stacks, unbuttoning the top button of her blouse. “Did you get him to leave, yet-” she finally looked up and noticed Hongjoong standing a few feet away, blushing furiously when he met her eyes. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that she had sent this Seonghwa guy to scare him away so they could hook up against a bookshelf or something. Hongjoong’s thoughts were only further enforced when she ran up to the taller man and latched onto his arm, leaning up on her toes to whisper something in his ear. Hongjoong was thankful he had damaged his hearing from years of producing music, because he certainly did not want to hear what she had to say given the smirk on Seonghwa’s face. 

Hongjoong ran out of the library without a word, wanting nothing more than to be as far away from those two as possible. 

*

“So uh, Hongjoong, about last night,” the student librarian nervously cornered him as he tried to leave the photography lab. “Please don’t tell anyone what you saw.” 

Hongjoong scoffed, “As if I would want to relive that whole situation.” 

The girl - Hongjoong cannot for the life of himself remember her name - smiled shyly, pushing a lock of hair behind her ear. “So you won't tell?” 

“No.” Hongjoong deadpanned. 

“Ah, thank you so much!” she squealed giving the young man a hug. Hongjoong didn’t want to be rude and shove her off, but he was two seconds away from throwing her to the ground. Luckily for her, someone interjected. 

“Babe, who’s this,” a man’s voice questioned out from behind. The voice was kind and warm, and definitely did not belong to Seonghwa.  _ Interesting _ .

“Ah, this is Hongjoong, my classmate,” she giggled.

“Hi Hongjoong,” the man was so tall that he had to look down when finally addressing Hongjoong, but his gaze was far from condescending. “I’m Jieun’s boyfriend, Jeong Yunho. Nice to meet you!” 

Hongjoong was at an impass. Jeong Yunho seemed like a really nice guy if his puppy eyes and kind demeanour were any indication. Most other guys would’ve started a fight if they caught their girlfriends clinging to another man like that, but Yunho was trusting. Definitely too trusting. 

As if sensing Hongjoong’s sudden desire to take back his promise and spill the beans to this poor unsuspecting Yunho guy, Jieun shot him a subtle glare. Hongjoong decided to keep his mouth shut. Getting involved in drama right now was the last thing he wanted. Staying invisible meant running his uncle’s business would be less risky. 

So, instead of pulling Yunho to the side and telling him that his girlfriend was cheating on him with the world's biggest asshole, Hongjoong promptly ignored the taller man’s greeting and walked away. Out of the corner of his eye, Hongjoong spotted Yunho’s dejected frown and nearly turned back around to apologize, until the giant man suddenly lit up like nothing happened and whipped out his phone to show Jieun some pictures from his aunt’s vacation to Paris. 

_ Why do bad things always happen to good people? _

_ * _

Unfortunately for Hongjoong this love triangle drama - if you could call it that- seemed to follow him everywhere. Not even an hour after meeting Yunho, Hongjoong ran into Jieun and Seonghwa on his way back from the dining hall. 

“But Seonghwa oppa, I thought you liked me!” Jieun cried, tugging on the taller man’s sleeve. She was a mess now, compared to how she looked before. Her previously perfect makeup was now running down her face and her clothes were disheveled almost as if they had stopped in the middle of something. 

“I don’t like girls with boyfriends,” he scoffed, flinging her off. 

“W-was it not good enough for y-you?” she stuttered, head turned towards the ground. 

At that moment it was almost as if Seonghwa had flipped a switch. He rolled his eyes before forcing his expression to become somber.  _ Ingenuine bastard _ . 

“Hey,” Seonghwa said gently, tilting her head up. “You’re a beautiful girl, and our time together was wonderful, but,” he sighed softly.“I don’t think you should see me anymore. We wouldn’t want to hurt Gunho, right?” 

“His name is Y-Yunho,” she hiccuped, wiping her eyes. Seonghwa scowled and mouthed  _ whatever _ , quickly morphing back into his guise of gentle kindness when she uncovered her eyes. 

“Right, we wouldn’t want to hurt him,” he smiled a reassuring smile. How charming. 

“I-I’ll break up with him!” she quickly interjected. “I want to be with you!”

Hongjoong rolled his eyes from his shadowy hideout. If only she knew how much of an ass this guy was...

Seonghwa stayed silent. On the outside he looked stunned but even from this far away, Hongjoong could swear he saw smugness behind the man’s eyes. 

“Park Seonghwa, I like you!” she exclaimed. “Please accept my love!” 

_ Crash.  _

A couple feet to Hongjoong’s left Jeong Yunho had dropped a snow globe on the ground, where it shattered into pieces. A little Eiffel Tower rolled towards the messy haired blond and landed at his feet, drawing unwanted attention towards him. Not from Jieun, no, she had already run over to Yunho and was clinging to him begging for forgiveness. The gaze which landed on him belonged to none other than Park Seonghwa himself, and the bastard was smirking. 

“I don’t know if I can forgive this Jieun,” Yunho choked trying to hold back tears. Hongjoong’s heart broke a little watching the kind hearted man cry like this. “I love you, but this hurt me.”

“You can trust me!” she sobbed, looking up at Yunho with crazed eyes . “I’ll never do this again!” 

“I’m sorry,” he turned his gaze away. “I just need some time.” 

“I understand,” Jieun hiccuped one last time, and walked off with her head to the ground. 

“I’m so sorry,” Seonghwa stepped forward, placing a gentle hand on Yunho’s shoulder. “I didn’t know she had a boyfriend.”

Yunho looked up with teary eyes and a forced smile, “That’s okay, it’s not your fault.” 

Without another word, Yunho too, slipped off in the opposite direction as Jieun. 

And then there were two. 

“Wow,” Hongjoong finally spoke, slowly clapping his hands. “You almost had  _ me _ convinced there. Bravo.”

Seonghwa chuckled, “I’m a pretty convincing actor when I need to be.” 

“Let me guess, she was a shitty lay so you dropped her like a hot potato?” Hongjoong scowled.

“Wow, mysterious stranger. It’s kind of unfair that you know me so well and I don’t even know your name,” Seonghwa raised an eyebrow. 

“Good. I don’t want my name in your mouth,” Hongjoong rolled his eyes.

“If you don’t want your name in my mouth, what about-”

“Don’t finish that sentence!” Hongjoong nearly lost his lunch at the thought. “You’re disgusting, and I’m leaving.” 

For the second time since meeting Park Seonghwa, Hongjoong left without saying goodbye. 

*

“Jongho, dude, you don’t look so good,” Sanha, Jongho’s classmate reached over the table and poked at his cheek with a chopstick. 

Jongho had been spaced out for over half the lunch period, to the point where he hadn’t even touched his food. The high school senior had simply spent the last 40 minutes pushing some rice around in his bowl and worrying his bottom lip. Sanha’s call and the sudden metallic taste of blood in his mouth snapped the brunet out of his reverie. 

“Sorry,” he apologized half heartedly, bringing his attention back up to his friends. 

Jongho’s other lunch buddy, Seungmin, decided to chime in, “What’s going on with you lately, Jongho. You’ve been weird since yesterday-”

“It’s nothing,” Jongho supplied rather quickly. “Just some family drama.” 

Sanha gathered his lunch tray and stood up, momentarily towering over his two shorter friends, before he sat back down beside Jongho. “Did you wanna talk about it?” Sanha suggested, resting his hand comfortingly on Jongho’s shoulder. Seungmin did the same from Jongho’s other side.

The boy in the middle shrugged off both of their advances, ignoring the hurt on his two closest friend’s faces. “No, it’s fine,” he replied casually, shooting his friends an apologetic glance. “Everything will work out.” 

Neither Sanha nor Seungmin decided to comment on Jongho’s weird behaviour any further, knowing that the youngest in their group hated talking about his feelings. Instead, the two decided to bring up something they knew would insight some excitement among the friend group. 

“So, what are we singing for the talent show this year?” Seungmin inquired, expecting the somber mood to dissolve at the mention of their shared passion. Sanha looked thrilled to be discussing music but the dark cloud above Jongho only seemed to expand. 

“You guys should sing without me this year,” Jongho cut off Sanha's rambling about his current favourite songs. Rather than becoming offended by his friend’s rude interruption, Sanha simply frowned. 

“But it’s our last year! It’s our last chance to perform together,” Seungmin pouted. 

Sanha added, “Your uncle will be so disappointed if you don’t sing-”

Jongho snapped his head towards his tallest friend and narrowed his eyes, “I’m done talking about this.” 

The brunet stood up so quickly that he accidentally flung his chair backwards. Instead of picking it up and sliding it back under the lunch table, Jongho turned on his heels and walked away, leaving his two friends staring behind him with gaping mouths. 

*

Jongho quietly unlocked the door to his apartment and snuck through the front hall without making a sound. 

The high school senior had gone to the nurses office an hour or so after lunch complaining about a fake stomach ache. Of course the 18 year old hadn’t eaten anything for lunch so his stomach was a little upset, but more than anything, he just wanted to go home. Ever since their conversation at lunch, Jongho constantly felt Sanha and Seungmin’s pitying glances burning his back, and it was driving him wild. Obviously, his friend’s intentions were well. After all, the three boys had been practically inseparable since their first year of highschool. They had bonded then, over their mutual love of singing, but at this very moment, music was the one thing Jongho couldn’t bear to think about. 

Uncle Baekhyun loved singing. The man was always humming a tune or whispering a melody under his breath, even when performing the most mundane tasks. At one point, Jongho wondered if perhaps Uncle Baekhyun’s true dream had been to perform, and the thought always weighed him down with guilt. If their uncle hadn’t been forced to take care of them, he could’ve lived out his dream. Despite his remorse, Jongho’s fondest childhood memories were the stormy nights when Uncle Baekhyun would climb in bed with the two young brothers and sing them lullabies to drown out the thunder. 

  
  


Speaking of Hongjoong, Jongho expected him to be home. Typically, at this time on a wednesday the older sibling would already be back in the apartment having only a morning lab and a short class after lunch. The high school student had been pin drop quiet sneaking through the door only to realize Hongjoong’s shoes, jacket, and bag were all missing from the foyer. 

_ Strange. _

Ignoring the building feeling of suspicion and worry, Jongho trudged to his room for a nap, ready to disregard his problems for a well deserved moment of peace. 

*

“Are you following me?” Hongjoong scoffed as he caught sight of Park Seonghwa yet again, just outside the library. Seeing this man twice in one day was two times too many in Hongjoong’s humble opinion. 

“No,” Seonghwa chuckled, pushing his bright blond hair back. “Are  _ you _ following  _ me _ ?”

Hongjoong rolled his eyes and shifted his book bag further up his shoulder, “Full offense but I didn’t expect you to show your face here so soon after your little fiasco with the student librarian.” 

The taller student raised his eyebrows, “So you were avoiding me?”

Hongjoong pushed past him, opening the door and praying it would slam on his stupid face. Seonghwa caught the door and slid in the library behind him.  _ Damn _ . 

“Don’t flatter yourself, captain peroxide,” Hongjoong spat, picking up the pace. Unfortunately, Seonghwa’s long legs displayed no problem in keeping up with Hongjoong’s rapid strides. 

“You have a nickname for me now,” Seonghwa gasped mockingly. “That’s romantic.”

Hongjoong didn’t even spare the other a glance, heading straight for the phone charging station. Just as Hongjoong was about to chance a look behind to see if Seonghwa was still following, a cheery female voice called out.

“Seonghwa!” the girl waved excitedly while jogging over their way. When she caught sight of Hongjoong she frowned, “Oh, what are you doing with Kim Hongjoong?”

“Hm, Hongjoong,” Seonghwa mumbled under his breath, before flashing the girl a blinding smile. “We just ran into each other outside,” the bright blond patted Hongjoong’s shoulder amicably and the shorter, dustier blond winced at the contact as if it had burned, but he didn’t shrug it off. 

“Can I chat with you for a second? It’s about our economics project,” the girl blushed.

“Sure thing,” he smiled at her yet again, before turning his grin towards Hongjoong. “Wait up for me, Joong.”

Seonghwa gave his shoulder a final pat before letting his hand drop and following the girl towards the computer area. Hongjoong finally felt like he could breathe again. 

Over ten minutes passed since the taller man had disappeared with the blushing girl, and Hongjoong had settled into an uncomfortable chair right next to the charging station, fully convinced Seonghwa wouldn’t return. _ Perfect _ , better to do this away from prying eyes. 

Right on time, the simple message came in:  _ XXX, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, 2pm.  _

Followed immediately by:  _ Don’t send the usual guy, send Song Mingi.  _

Chanyeol had texted Hongjoong last night, giving him a heads up that one of their regulars requested a bodyguard service every wednesday just after lunch. When the young man inquired why someone would need an under the table bodyguard in broad daylight, Chanyeol had responded that the golden rule to this service was to not ask questions. So naturally, Hongjoong didn’t press any further. 

Quickly scrolling through the employee archives Hongjoong forwarded the request to the worker listed as Song Mingi, typing out a simple  _ good luck _ before quickly changing his mind and furiously hitting backspace. Looking at the man’s profile, Hongjoong had noticed that Song Mingi was even younger than he was, and so the greeting had slipped out as a result of some unknown feeling. The poor kid didn’t seem to have a future, and that rubbed Hongjoong the wrong way, but the university student knew better than to meddle more than he had to. 

*

Unfortunately for the messy haired arts major, Seonghwa ended up returning shortly after Hongjoong put his phone back down and pulled out his laptop. The shorter of the two noticed he looked a little disheveled, but avoided even bringing it up, let alone acknowledging his presence. 

“What are you doing?” Seonghwa inquired, fixing his hair and buttoning back up the top button of his dress shirt - seriously, why was Seonghwa always dressed like a model rather than a university student? 

Hongjoong shot him a pointed glare, but otherwise ignored him, causing the bleach blond to peek over the top of his laptop. 

“You produce music?” he asked, the most genuine tone Hongjoong had heard from the man thus far. Maybe it was because of the subtle childlike curiosity in his voice, but Hongjoong caved and responded. 

“Yeah, I’m a music production major.” 

“Must be nice,” Seonghwa mumbled under his breath. Hongjoong barely heard him.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

An awkward silence befell the two, as Seonghwa continued to watch Hongjoong’s screen. The music student was starting to get antsy under the other man's intense observation, but finally Seonghwa backed away. Hongjoong didn’t realize how close they had been until he could finally breathe again. 

“I’m a business major,” Seonghwa said, breaking the silence after a long time.

“That’s nice,” Hongjoong replied halfheartedly, deep in focus on the task at hand-

_ Ring ring. _

Hongjoong ignored it.

_ Ring ring. _

“Your phone is ringing,” Seonghwa quipped. 

“That’s nice,” Hongjoong answered in the exact same way he had before, without missing a beat. 

“It’s an unknown number-” Seonghwa, reached for the device, but Hongjoong ripped it out of his grasp. 

“I need to take this,” the dusty blond ran out the library doors, without even a glance back. 


End file.
